Scientists have discovered a new layer of partly molten rock under the Earth's crust that might help settle a long-standing debate about how tectonic plates move.
Earth Sciences
Feb 6, 2023
0
1077
As you are reading this, more than 400 miles below you is a massive world of extreme temperatures and pressures that has been churning and evolving for longer than humans have been on the planet. Now, a detailed new model ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 12, 2023
3
602
A new study suggests that tiny, mineral grains—squeezed and mixed over millions of years—set in motion the chain of events that plunge massive tectonic plates deep into the Earth's interior.
Earth Sciences
Jan 19, 2021
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893
Researchers at CU Boulder report that they may have solved a geophysical mystery, pinning down the likely cause of a phenomenon that resembles a wrench in the engine of the planet.
Earth Sciences
Oct 1, 2018
1
408
There may be more than a quadrillion tons of diamond hidden in the Earth's interior, according to a new study from MIT and other universities. But the new results are unlikely to set off a diamond rush. The scientists estimate ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 16, 2018
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1367
When an earthquake strikes, nearby seismometers pick up its vibrations in the form of seismic waves. In addition to revealing the epicenter of a quake, seismic waves can give scientists a way to map the interior structures ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 14, 2018
0
138
New research by Brown University geochemists provides new insights on the scale at which Earth's mantle varies in chemical composition. The findings could help scientists better understand the mixing process of mantle convection, ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 23, 2017
1
134
The temperature of Earth's interior affects everything from the movement of tectonic plates to the formation of the planet.
Earth Sciences
Mar 2, 2017
2
613
By crushing minerals between diamonds, a University of Utah study suggests the existence of an unknown layer inside Earth: part of the lower mantle where the rock gets three times stiffer. The discovery may explain a mystery: ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 23, 2015
4
180
Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico report evidence for potentially oceans worth of water deep beneath the United States. Though not in the familiar liquid form—the ingredients for ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 12, 2014
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